Published: July 02, 2008
On Thursday, Todd County District Judge Sally Ireland Robertson upheld a restraining order to bar an autistic boy from attending a northern Minnesota church. Although the judge said the behavior of 13-year old Adam Race was "repeated, unwanted and intrusive," his mother, Carol Race, said she would continue the legal fight.
"I thought it would be possible I would lose on some things," said Race, "but I'm surprised that so many of the points in the judgment were based on hearsay." Race said the testimony provided by parish priest, Rev. Daniel Walz, was unfair and based on the reports of others.
Jane Marrin, who works for the Diocese of St. Cloud, acted as a spokeswoman for the parish, and said the church is willing to continue mediation in the case. Both parties have met once.
Race said she's open to another meeting, but not optimistic that it would lead to a solution.
When requesting the restraining order, Rev. Daniel Walz said Adam had become disruptive and dangerous to parishioners the older he became. Adam, who is more than 6 feet tall and weighs more than 225 pounds, was reported to have made nonverbal noises, urinate because of incontinence, and often in need of some form of fleece tie restraint on his hands or feet.
Carol Race said many of those claims were exaggerated, and Judge Ireland saw otherwise.
"Though respondent Carol Race believes that the intrusive distraction caused by her son's behavior in church is no different from that of a crying baby or any other incontinent adult, the court cannot and does not agree," the judge said.
"While it is true that Father Walz testified he did not personally observe every instance of the conduct included in the petition," Robertson wrote, "he did observe several of them and believed in good faith the reports of other parishioners' observations."
Robertson said the ruling does not bar the rest of the Race family from attending church, and urged both parties to seek a compromise.
"Clearly, this is a difficult and challenging situation for all concerned," the judge wrote.
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